We are pleased to welcome Earl McKinney from Bowling Green State University as a Fulbright Professor at FH Salzburg. Our new colleague from Ohio will spend the summer semester 2022 at the Business Management Program at FH Salzburg.
Earl McKinney began his career as a pilot at the U.S. Air Force Academy. At that time, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics. He received a master's degree in Engineering in Operations Research from Cornell University in New York. His professional journey then took him to the University of Texas, where he earned a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems (MIS). He eventually began working at Bowling Green State University in 2000 after serving as a faculty member at the Air Force Academy for nine years.
In addition to his research on teaching methods, particularily active learning, Earl McKinney's main focus is on the analysis of big data.
"In my current research work, I focus on how Big Data is used for decision making and how to educate the next generation of business students to avoid simply accepting the results of Big Data analysis but to learn to ask good questions about Big Data analysis. I would like to bring these principles into my courses at the FH Salzburg", says the new colleague.
In joint classes with Simon Grinzinger, their goal is to create a certain awareness among the students about the ambiguity of data and the multitude of reasonable interpretations of the data. Earl McKinney has already conducted similar studies in the USA and China, which will be compared in the next step.
Both Simon Ginzinger (MultiMediaTechnology) and Earl McKinney focus on predictive analytics in their work, which is why they want to take advantage of the opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration. A funny coincidence is that Simon Ginzinger himself studied at Bowling Green State University, where Earl McKinney works today.
In the area of Business Management (Betriebswirtschaft), the new colleague will be teaching an Applied Marketing Metrics class later this semester in which students will apply Tableau and Power BI to analytics cases in Marketing.
The Fulbright Program is one of the most prestigious scholarship programs in the world and promotes the academic exchange of students and teachers to and from the USA. Earl McKinney is the sixth Fulbright Professor at the FH Salzburg.